Early modern alchemy developed out of ancient and medieval alchemy, and towards the end of the 18th century it evolved into scientific chemistry. By this time, a more mystical, theosophic branch had split from the tradition based on practical experiments that culminated in the Phlogiston theory. The leading figure in early modern alchemy was Paracelsus. 1. Concepts 1.1. Hermetic influencesNew currents developed in alchemy in the late 15th century that were closely related to Renaissance thought and generally characterized by the reinterpretation of an…

1. Terminology and history As commonly understood, an acid is a substance, usually liquid, that has a sour taste and a caustic effect. The basis of the modern chemical definition of acids goes back to the Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius, who defined acids in 1887 as substances that produce protons or hydrogen ions (H+) when added to water and bases (alkalis) as substances that produce hydroxyl ions (OH--). The term
alkali derives from the Arabic word for sodium carbonate (Na2CO3), called
nitron (Greek) or
nitrum (Latin) by classical authors. This name was later applied to…

1. Artisanal manufacture of utilitarian goods and individual chemicals1.1. IntroductionTechnical chemical processes have been used since protohistory or prehistory, for instance in the manufacture of ceramics (Potter) and glass, and in making sourdough bread and fermented beverages. Late in the Middle Ages and in the transition to the early modern period, a number of industrial trades and crafts developed that conducted chemical reactions in a specific and deliberate way in order to manufacture particula…

1. Classical element theory
1.1. ConceptIn European cultural history, the term “elements” denotes the four basic substances, fire, water, earth, and air, which were together incorporated into a comprehensive theory of four elements in Antiquity. The etymological derivation of the term is from the Latin
elementum, itself a translation of the Greek
stoicheíon (“letter”, “sound”; first documented in the sense of “constituent component” or “basis” in Plato [8]).The doctrine of the four elements was not limited to Europe, but seems to be a fundamental structure …

Lammel, Hans-Uwe I. The Concept of Nature (physis/natura) (CT) [German version] A. Antiquity (CT) By assuming the early Greek definition of essential being as 'being-that-has-become' [41; 19; 33; 55; 52], Aristotle had given precise expression to Greek
physis, which he conceived of as the becoming and essence of all existing matter that contains the origin of its motion within itself (Metaph. Δ 4). In addition to the material substrate, from which becoming was perceived as proceeding, the notions of shape and form (
morphḗ and
eídos) appeared as the goal (
télos) of natural becoming,…